Local versus on one machine. All eight Monarchs and all 52 cards are unlocked.
Two players, one screen, one battle. There is no map, no run and nothing to grind — you build a deck, pick a Monarch and fight.
Building a deck
Same Forge, same rules as a campaign deck — 10 cards, no duplicates — with every card in the game available to put in it.
The Joust keeps its own shelf of eight decklists, separate from the campaign.
Picking a Monarch
Any of the eight — a King and a Queen of every suit — for either player, each with their own Hero Power. Both players may bring the same Monarch, and the same decklist. Mirror matches are fair game.
How a match plays
A single battle from full health, under the same rules as campaign combat.
- Spend your skills, if the format has any to spend.
- Ban a card. Both decklists are revealed and each player takes one card out of the other's — see below.
- Replace your banned card. Choose from the remaining available cards to add a 10th card back to your decklist.
- Cut the deck. Both players cut a card, Ace high, same as at the Shark's table. Winner of the cut chooses who goes first.
- Fight. Standard battle, standard board, standard everything.
Three ways to play
Hot-seat
Both seats Human.
Two people taking turns at one screen. The board flips between turns, so whoever is playing is always the one at the bottom.
The other hand sits face down and can be hovered to read.
Against the AI
One seat Human, one seat AI.
Either seat can be handed over. An AI opponent draws from a bank of 10,000 decks, sorted by suit and by strength.
Spectate
Both seats AI.
Set both seats to AI and the match plays itself, then starts the next one.
Ban & replace
Before the battle both decks are laid out face up and each player takes one card out of the other's. The banned card is replaced, not lost — its owner picks something else, knowing exactly what they are up against.
The player who wins the cut bans first. Both bans land before either replacement, and the replacements are picked in the reverse order.
It can be switched off.
Skill formats
A match is played at 0, 5 or 11 Monarchy Skill points, and both players get the same. Nothing is carried in from a campaign tree — each player spends their points on the skill board before the match, on a 90-second clock. Whatever you do not spend, you go in without.
Playing with someone who isn't there
The Joust supports Steam Remote Play Together, and the other player does not need to own the game. Both hands are open at the table anyway, so nothing is lost by sharing one screen.
1.0 Online lobbies.